Does Wikipedia really need your donation?
Topsy-turvy fundraising, plumbing Wikipedia's depths, and the Cree language edition of Wikipedia.
🔔 Wiki Briefing
Wikipedia’s topsy turvy fundraising
In Q4 of every year, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) runs a fundraising campaign for itself, plastering the top of Wikipedia articles with vague insinuations that Wikipedia might have to rely on commercial advertising—or could disappear entirely—unless you do your part and make a donation. Most years, these appeals have been wildly successful, and the WMF's assets have grown considerably. The campaign has earned more than $50 million since 2020.
But the recent picture hasn’t been quite so rosy and, as the next fundraising campaign looms into view, the WMF is hoping to avoid a repeat performance of 2022, when the campaign raised 30% less than the year before (despite running for a longer period and garnering more impressions). Why did this happen? In large part, because Wikipedia’s unpaid volunteer community has been raising concerns for years about the alarmist wording in those banners, not to mention asking where all that money is going. In 2022 the WMF bowed to these concerns, ratcheted down the rhetoric—and watched donation rates fall by half.
None of this is to say Wikipedia is itself in trouble. In 2016 the WMF created an endowment for itself, which until this summer was a donor-advised fund of the Tides Foundation. It has now spun out as a 501(c)3. Earlier this month, Tides published a transparency report detailing its financial performance to date. While its unrealized losses were almost $22 million in 2022, 2023 has seen its greatest gains to date. Its current value stands at approximately $119 million.
📰 In the News
Plumbing Wikipedia’s Depths
If you’re a regular user of social media, there's a good chance you’ve come across Depths of Wikipedia, a social media project sharing offbeat Wikipedia articles and funny details contained within articles on more serious topics, via accounts on X-Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. The account is run by 23-year-old Annie Rauwerda, who launched it as a University of Michigan undergrad. Depths of Wikipedia has become so popular, in fact, that she's taking it on tour. Los Angeles Review of Books published a review of her LA stop earlier this month, and before that the Tampa Bay Times promoted her visit there in September. A list of upcoming shows can be found on her website, depthsofwiki.com.
🧩 Wikipedia Facts
Wikipedia's English-language edition is the largest of all the Wikipedias, counting more than 6.7 million separate articles, but it is just one of 336 separate editions. Of these, only 19 have more than 1 million articles. Which one has the least articles?
The answer is the Cree language Wikipedia, which as of October 2023, counts just 160 total entries.
💡 Tips & Tricks
How do you know if a Wikipedia article exists in another language? Until a re-design of the website earlier this year, Wikipedia listed these in the left-hand sidebar. Now, if you want to find an article in other languages, first look at the title of the article, then slide your eyes to the right hand side of the page. On the same line will be a drop-down menu telling you how many other Wikipedias have an article on this topic.
